Switch mechanism for railways.



No. 827,407. f PATENTED JULY 31,1906.

,T, BAMFORD. SWITCH MECHANISM FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 27 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' W1 TNESSES;

A TTORNE VS 1m: ucnmsps sns cc., WASHINGTON, b. c.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTBD JULY 31, 1906.

JJ A rro'lezvys BAM FORDY SWITCH MECHANISM FOR RAILWAYS. APPLIUATIONFILED APLR'T, 1906.

s PETERS c mechanism forms in connection with .street tuate t TrioMAsBAMFORD, or LEBANON, ILLINOIS.

SWI'TCH'ME'OHANISM-FOR RAILWA'YS.-

To; wlflwhom it. may concern/. v

Be it known. that I, Tr oMAsBAMFoRD, a

citizen of the United States, residin at Leba non, in the county ofSt.Clair'an State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful SwitchMechanism for- Railways, -.ofwhich "the following is a specification.

The present invention relates, to a switch and interurbanrailways ofthat type adapted to be mounted; on the cars, so that the motor manor'engineer can throw the switch without sto ping the car and.dismounting to .ac-' fie track-switch, as has been hithertonecessary'..

a The'objects of the invention are'to provide aswitchsthrowing mechanismof the character which is of simple and inexpensive con- 8171 110131011"and WlllC is positive and reliable moperation.

Furthermore, lt-is an aim of the invention to soccnstruct theswitch-throwing m echanism that it can-beyapplied to cars of standardconstruction without any alteration being necessary'and' to equipthe'track-switch with the necessary" means cooperatingwith the switchthrowing mechanism carried by the car: for moving the switch without anysubst'antial change tion I o With these and otherzobjectsin view theinvention consists of the various features of construction andarrangement of parts, as will; be hereinafter more fully described, andpointed out with particularity in the claims ap. ended hereto.

in the regular track construcn the: accom 'anying. drawings, whichillustrate one em odiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a front portion" of'an-electric car with the switch-throwin-mechanism applied thereto. si eelevation, on an enlarged scale, of thesaid mechanism: Fig. 3' 1s a front view thereof, andFig. 4 is a planview of the track and switchtherefor. 7

Referring to the drawings, l re resents one of the trucks of thecar, onwhic is supported the body 2'. The-car can, however, be of the singe-truck type.

V In either case the switch-throwing mechanisms arepreferably mounted onthetrucks. When the car. is'of .the double-ended constructionthat is tosay, having the necessary controlling apparatus at both ends, so thatthe .car can be operated from either-four throwingmechanismsSpecification of'Letters Patent.

Application filed April 27,1906. Serial No. 314,075.

Fig. 2 is a v main trac I tion is-of standardvdesign; Disposedat the.

Patented July 31, I906.v

are provided,so1thatany desired switchcan I i be operated by-themotorm'an I Each switchthrowing mechanism: com= prises a vertical, shaft3, which is mounted so" asto have a combined longitudinal andoscillatorymovement, and for this. pur ose is arranged in a bearing-sleeve'e,suitab su to which the guiding=sleeve4 may b.e mount. ed, and theentirestructure is supportedon the" truck 1. The outer :end of the'upper arm J6 The-ups j i-PAT NT ra 9 arm 6, which serves as an operatingcrank and as a wiperv cooperating withan nclined surface 7, so that asthe crank is turned 1e11,, gitudinal movement is imparted to the rod;

This inclinedsurfa'ce is carried by a'frameS, 7 5

is connected by a link 9 with an operating lever 10, which is mounted onthe floor ofthe carat the front platform and adaptedtobe v operated bythe foot.

If. desired, apush-button to be operatedby the foot may be employed,inwhich case the link is connected with the push-button by a- The partsare held in. their normal position I bellecranklever, as willbe readilyunderstood anda'rereturned thereto after being actuated?" I by means ofahelical?compressionsspring 11', arranged on the upper end of the pushrod? and held between anabutment 12 onitherod and the upper end'oftheguide-sleeve.'- When the parts are'in.normalpositiongithe switchthrowing finger 3- is-raised' and project outewardly in a lateraldirectionwith' respect to v 9 5;

the axis of-thepu'sh-rod. When the switch-- throwing mechanism isactuated: by the 'mo*- torman, thefinger is depressed and :simultaneously turned to extend: rearwardly, as

shown in dot-ted lines, Fig.2, so as to be or I erative position tocooperate withthe' mec anismon the track for throwingthe switch;

of amain line, and 14 .the'rail's of a-turnouit",

crossover, or Y track, and 15 the. switch for controllin the tracks 14with-relation to'the As shown, the-track construe outside of the-rails13 are springs 1.6,,with

Referring to Fig. 4", 1i3-representsthe rails I ,which the fingerson thelower ends'of the 1,1 0

. there is Considerable clearance between them and the adjacent sides ofthe rail 13. On the surfaces adjacent the rails the springs are providedwith inwardly-projecting actuatingrods 19 and 20. The rod 19 engages theswitch and moves it to a closed position, whereas the rod 20 engages theswitch to move it to an open position. These rods are guided in openingsin the webs of their adj acent rails 13. The opening for the rod 19 is asufiicient support for its free end ;.but in the case of the rod 20 itsfree end is supported in an opening 22 in the other rail. On the rod 20is a shoulder, adjustable nut, or other device 23 ,which engages theswitch and moves it to its open position. The rod 20 passes freelythrough an opening 24 in the switch, so that if the switch has beenmoved to its open position the rod can be retracted by its spring without drawing the switch closed. So,

also, the push-rod 19 is not mechanically connected with the switch, sothat after it has moved the latter closed it has no tendency to open it.

The operation is as follows: Assuming the car is approaching the switchand it is desired to pass through the same, the motorman actuates theoperating-lever of the left-handswitch-throwing mechanism at a suitabletime before the switch is reached, and causes the finger on the end ofthe drop-rod to move to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.The finger thus moves along the outside of the left-hand rail and wipesalong the convex surface of the spring 16. The spring yields to thefinger and causes the switch to close so that the wheels pass throughthe switch in the usual manner, it being assumed that the switch waspreviously in its open position. Should it be desired that thesucceeding car should pass through the switch to the rails 14, themotorman operates the lever of the righthand-switch-throwing mechanism,so that the rod 20 is movedinwardly by the finger of the right-handmechanism passing over the spring 16 of the right-hand rail, so as tomove the switch into its open position. The switch is thus opened sothat the car can freely pass withoutstopping from the main rails 13 tothe rails 14.

Flanking each of the spring-plates 16 are guides 25, supportedon tiesfor the rails or in any other desired manner,which serve to retain thesprings in position and prevent destruction thereof by traffic in theroad. The inner surfaces of these guides are concaved to conform to theconvex surface of the springs so as to enga e the latter and prevent thecollection of dirt and other foreign matter between them, and thusinterfere eration of the apparatus.

I have described the principle of operation of the invention, togetherwith the apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodimentthereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown ismerely illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out by othermeans.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a longitudinallymovable and oscillatory member, a crank for oscillating the same, astationary means cooperating with the crank for moving said memberlongitudinally when the crank is actuated, a spring which returns thesaid member to its inoperative position, and a switch actuated by saidmember.

2. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a longitudinallymovable and oscillatory member, an arm for oscillating the same, astationary inclined surface cooperating with the said arm for moving themember longitudinally, a compression spring which oscillates and movesthe member to its initial position, a switch, and means on said memberfor operating the switch 3. In a switch-throwing mechanism, thecombination of a longitudinally movable and oscillatory rod, a sleevefor supporting the same, a crank on the upper end of the rod, aninclined guide cooperating with the said arm for producing longitudinalmovement of the rod, a s ring on the rod which abuts a ainst the en ofthe sleeve, a crank on the lower end of the rod, a finger carried by thelatter crank, an 'actuatin mechanism connected with the upper cranIr,and a switch adapted to be operated by said finger.

4. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a truck, and aswitch, with a switch mechanism mounted on the truck for actuating theswitch, said mechanism comprising a rod, a crank for oscillating therod, means for supporting the rod on the truck, a frame supported on thetruck which is provided with an inclined surface with which the crankcooperates to move the rod longitudinally, a lever connected with thecrank for actuating it, and means on the lower end of the rod foroperating the switch.

5. The combination of a car-truck, and a switch throwing mechanismarranged on each side thereof, with a switch, track-rails, a meansadjacent one of the rails and actuated by one of said mechanisms foropening the switch, and an independent means adjacent the other rail andactuated by the other mechanism for closing the switch.

with the op- 6. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwingmechanism on each side of the same, and an operating-lever for eachmechanism on the platform of the car, with a switch, ameans on one sideof the switch which is operated by one of said switchthrowing mechanismsfor moving the switch ed to be operated by one of said mechanisms,

and means for opening or closing the switch when the springs areactuated.

8. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwing'mechanism arrangedon opposite sides thereof, and means on the platform of the car foroperatin said mechanismv independently, with a switc a pair of rails,

a spring arranged on the outside of each track and flexed outwardly, anda rod attached to each spring and adapted to engage the said switch foractuating it.

9. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwing mechanism arrangedon opposite sides thereof, and means on the platform of the car foroperating said mechanisms independently, with a switch, a pair of rails,a spring at the outside of each rail disposed with aportion thereof onthe approach side of the switch, means for securing the spring at itsapproach end to the rail, and a rod on each spring which extends throughthe adjacent rail and engages the switch for operating it.

10. The combination of a car, and a switchthrowing mechanismthereon,,with a switch, rail, a member located at the outside of therail and arranged to be actuated by the switch-throwing mechanism, andmeans 00- 4 operatin with the said member for actuating the switci.

' 1 1. The combination of a car, andia switchthrowing mechanism thereon,with a switch, rail, a spring normally flexed outwardly from the side ofthe rail and secured at one end to the latter and free at its oppositeend, and an inwardly-extending member attached to the said spring foractuating the switch.

12. The combination of a car, and a switchthrowing mechanism thereon,with a switch,

rails, a spring convexed outwardly from the outside of the rail with oneend secured to the latter and the other end free, a uard 'disposed alongthe outside of the spring, and a rod attached at substantially themiddle of the spring and extending inwardly through the adjacent rail toengage the switch.

13. The combination of a car, independent switch-throwing mechanismsmounted there.

on, and means for operating the same, with a switch, a pair of rails,anoutwardly-curved spring extending along the outside of each rail,means on the spring adjacent the switch for moving the latter in onedirection, and a a rod on theother spring for moving the switch in theopposite direction which is guided at one end in-the adjacent rail andat its opposite end in the other rail. l In testimony that I claim theforegoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presenceof two witnesses.

, THOMAS BAMFORD. Witnesses:

CHAs. REINHARDT, HENRY REINHARDT.

